The Food Quality Protection Act of
1996 (FQPA) requires the consideration of cumulative risk
and variability factors in the risk assessment process used by EPA
to make decisions concerning the safety of pesticides for both agricultural
and residential uses. FQPA directs EPA in its assessments
of pesticide safety to focus in part on aggregate exposure (total
exposure occurring via all routes and pathways) in its assessment
of pesticide risk. It also requires the consideration of the
cumulative effects of multiple pesticides and other substances that
have a common mechanism of toxicity. In addition to FQPA,
various reports have stated concern that EPA's current approaches
to risk assessment do not adequately account for risks arising from
complex exposure patterns. These reports include the National
Research Council report entitled, Pesticides in the Diets of Infants
and Children (National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1993), the
report on Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment (National Academy
Press, Washington, DC, 1994), and the 1996 draft report by the Presidents
Commission on Risk Assessment & Risk Management titled, "Risk
Assessment and Risk Management in Regulatory Decision-Making."

The FQPA and these reports reflect
an emerging body of evidence that suggestsperson-to-person differences in exposure
play an important role in the variability and uncertainty associated
with pesticide risk assessments. The traditional standard
default approaches used in pesticide risk assessment often do not
effectively evaluate inter-individual variation and may underestimate
the impact of pesticides on particular groups of individuals.
Traditional approaches also do not adequately account for temporal
variation in factors that contribute to complex exposure patterns
(e.g., pesticide concentrations and human activities) involving
multiple, acute, intermittent exposures.

RESEARCH
NEEDS

The EPA will support longitudinal
case studies designed to assess aggregate, non-occupational
exposures to pesticides in defined populations aimed at addressing
important public health issues. These issues may concern the
toxicity of a particular chemical or class of chemicals and/or relate
to a health endpoint and its potential link to pesticide exposures.
Specifically, there is a need for information on aggregate human
exposures to commercial pesticide chemicals such as, but not limited
to, pyrethroid insecticides, triazine herbicides, and residential-use
pesticides. The EPA is seeking grant proposals that describe
studies for assessing pesticide exposure that incorporate estimates
of temporal and inter-individual variability. Successful proposals
will be those that effectively include and address as many of the
following as possible in longitudinal studies:

The identification of study hypotheses
that are supported by rationales for the selection of the population
of concern (characteristics and numbers) and the target pesticides
in relation to the environmental and public health issues associated
with their use.

The development of approaches
for assessing pesticide exposures via multiple pathways and routes
(e.g., inhalation, dietary and non-dietary ingestion, and dermal
contact). This research should emphasize temporal variation
in exposure and exposure-related factors.

The development of improved methods
for assessing exposures to specific classes of pesticides.
This should include methods to determine the temporal nature of
various sources and the resulting impact on exposure.

The evaluation of exposures to
pesticides resulting from various sources (e.g., agricultural
application to food crops, residential lawn treatment, indoor
residential uses, pet uses) and apportionment of the exposures
and doses.

The development of methods to
account for short-term, intermittent exposures to pesticides,
and evaluation of the importance of aggregate exposures under
such conditions.

The development of assessments
of pesticide exposure that include evaluations of the uncertainty
and variability associated with the exposure estimates.

FUNDS AVAILABLE

Up to $6 million is expected to be
available in fiscal year 2001 for awards in this program area.
The projected award range is $250,000 to 350,000 per year, including
direct and indirect costs, for up to 4 years.

ELIGIBILITY

Academic and not-for-profit institutions
located in the U.S., and state or local governments, are eligible
under all existing authorizations. Profit-making firms are
not eligible to receive grants from EPA under this program.
Federal agencies and national laboratories funded by federal agencies
(Federally-funded Research and Development Centers, FFRDCs) may
not apply.

Federal employees are not eligible
to serve in a principal leadership role on a grant. FFRDC
employees may cooperate or collaborate with eligible applicants
within the limits imposed by applicable legislation and regulations.
They may participate in planning, conducting, and analyzing the
research directed by the principal investigator, but may not direct
projects on behalf of the applicant organization or principal investigator.
The principal investigator's institution may provide funds through
its grant from EPA to a FFRDC for research personnel, supplies,
equipment, and other expenses directly related to the research.
However, salaries for permanent FFRDC employees may not be provided
through this mechanism.

Federal employees may not receive
salaries or in other ways augment their agency's appropriations
through grants made by this program. However, federal employees
may interact with grantees so long as their involvement is not essential
to achieving the basic goals of the grant.1
The principal investigators institution may also enter into an
agreement with a federal agency to purchase or utilize unique supplies
or services unavailable in the private sector. Examples are
purchase of satellite data, census data tapes, chemical reference
standards, analyses, or use of instrumentation or other facilities
not available elsewhere, etc. A written justification for
federal involvement must be included in the application, along with
an assurance from the federal agency involved which commits it to
supply the specified service.

1EPA encourages
interaction between its own laboratory scientists and grant principal
investigators for the sole purpose of exchanging information in
research areas of common interest that may add value to their respective
research activities. However, this interaction must be incidental
to achieving the goals of the research under a grant. Interaction
that is incidental is not reflected in a research proposal and
involves no resource commitments.

A set of special instructions on how
applicants should apply for a STAR grant is found on the NCER web
site, http://www.epa.gov/ncerqa. Standard
Instructions for Submitting a STAR Application and the necessary
forms for an application will be found on this web site. Please
note that for this solicitation only the research plan may be as
long as 25 pages, rather than the 15 pages stated in the Standard
Instructions.

SORTING CODE

The need for a sorting code to be
used in the application and for mailing is described in the Standard
Instructions for Submitting a STAR Application. The sorting
code for applications submitted in response to this solicitation
is 2001-STAR-G1.

The deadline for receipt of applications
by NCER is no later than 4:00 p.m. ET, March 7, 2001.

CONTACTS

Further information, if needed, may
be obtained from the EPA official indicated below. E-mail
inquiries are preferred.